THE FORECAST IS FOR FAIRS

The Howard County Fair begins Sunday and continues through next Saturday. The starting date was omitted from yesterday's Weekend section.

By PAMELA KESSLERAugust 12, 1983

As numbered Ping-Pong balls float on an air current in a box before her, a woman croons, "B-36, B-36. I-75, I-75, N-20, N-20 . . ." The sun is going down behind the 4-H barns.

A bearded man sits in a swing attached to a scale. Weighing in at 225, he'll guess your age, says the sign, within two years, your weight within three pounds, and your first name.

"Is it Layla?" he asks a little girl who shakes her head, picks up her prize circus glass and walks away in disgust.

"They're going to have to change that sign," he mutters. "I can't guess first names. Kids' names are weird!"

The carnival nights are here, following days jam-packed like Mason jars full of stringbeans.

The season of the county fair has begun.

The big state fairs -- Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia -- are expected to entertain between a quarter and a half a million people apiece, and some county fairs nearby -- Montgomery and Frederick, for example -- are in the same league, judging from last year's attendance.

About a fourth of the people who went to the State Fair of Virginia last year went to eat, says J. Linwood Rice, public-relations man, citing a survey. "Can you believe it? To eat?" he asks.

Well, yes. There's always a barbecued chicken to be had, washed down with Mr. Pibb and followed briskly by corndogs, candied apples, funnelcakes and cotton candy.

But how can you concentrate on food at a fair -- when, from a trapeze on a helicopter, a man is hanging by a toe? When cars in the Thrill Show squeal by on two wheels and crash head-on?

When there are greased-pig scrambles? When there are tobacco-spitting, cow-chip-throwing, hog-calling, horse- pulling, log-sawing, chicken-flying and worm-crawling contests? Not to mention beauty contests, baby contests and cute dog contests where dog and owner enter as a team? "That's right," says Rice. "Sometimes they even look alike."

County fairs are nostalgic places, where memories are stirred by the hot breath of the hay, the clang of the horseshoe toss and the animals' constant cooing, crowing and mooing. But mixed in is the new. The commercial exhibits are as likely as not to have a Jacuzzi as centerpiece, near the booth of the Humane Society, which is next to the Izaak Walton League's display of stuffed animals.

Raised lovingly by 4-Hers, the livestock are docile garden varieties. But there are less-known breeds, too: coon mules that jump hurdles as horses do, fancy breeds of chickens bred for feathery legs -- "Not the chicken you'd fry in your kitchen," explains Helen Hance of the Calvert County Fair, which will have a large poultry exhibit -- but the kind of chicken that's black, white and reddish orange and lays green eggs.

And if these pleasures aren't sufficient, there's the carnival man, who glues black tape over his sign where it says he'll guess your first name and who's quickly running out of straw hats and beer glasses, because he isn't any good at guessing weight, either. FAIRS OF STATE, AND COUNTY MARYLAND AUGUST 20: Howard County Fair, West Friendship. Out Georgia Avenue to Route 144, turn right to the fairgrounds. Hours: Sunday, noon to 10, weekdays, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., August 19-20, 9 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Admission $2 for age 12 and over. Phone: 301/442-1022.

Saturday, gates open at 2 for the baby beef and livestock sale. Rides on the midway start at 6, followed by Razzie Bailey (country music), and the men's greased-hog contest. THIS FRIDAY -- AUGUST 20: Prince William County Fair. From I-66, on Route 234 south of Manassas. Hours: Noon to 11 weekdays, later on weekends. Admission includes all rides and shows: $5 for ages 3 through 59; $3 age 60 and over. Phone: 703/368-0173.

Midway. Livestock shows and sales. August 21, opens at 1, horse show, baby contest, Page Valley High School Band, beauty contest. Most exhibits open August 22. August 26, demolition derby. August 27, drag races. AUGUST 22 -- 27: Clark County Fair, Berryville. Take I-66 west to U.S. 50 to Route 340 north to Berryville. Go a mile west on Route 7 to fairgrounds. Adults $2; 15 and under, $1; pre-school free. Hours: 10 to 10. Phone: 703/955-1131.